Man gives back to society after successful kidney operation

Changed man: Lee is actively involved in organ donation campaigns.

PETALING JAYA: Lee Chen Hoe, a cadaveric transplant recipient, is thankful for being given another chance at life after undergoing a successful kidney transplant operation some 20 years ago.

Among other things, he is able to lead a normal life and complete his postgraduate studies.

“Most importantly, I am able to attend my twin daughters’ graduation ceremony. This is my biggest dream,” he said in a recent interview.

His daughters are accountants.

Lee’s transplant operation was done at Hospital Kuala Lumpur in 1996, when he received a kidney from an American engineer, C.H. Bender, who was declared brain dead after suffering a stroke.

Bender’s family donated his kidneys and corneas.

After Lee recovered, the 59-year-old management consultant got actively involved in organ donation campaigns, giving talks at hospitals, schools and volunteered himself at various organ donation awareness events.

“I hope more people sign up to be an organ pledger. I have been through all the pain and suffering, physically and mentally. I hope every patient will have the opportunity like myself,” said Lee, who has pledged to donate his corneas.

As a former kidney dialysis patient, Lee said he was unable to donate his other organs.

In 1991 when he was 33, Lee’s kidneys failed. His daughters were just two and a half years old.

He was on Continuous Ambula­to­ry Peritoneal Dialysis for five years before undergoing the transplant.

He described his successful kidney transplant as equivalent to “striking the first prize in a lottery”, given that the average waiting time for a kidney is 15 to 16 years.

“Whenever I meet new friends or business associates, I will send them articles related to organ donation,” Lee said.

He also prints files and thousands of key chains with organ donation messages to distribute to the public.

“You wouldn’t know. If someone reads the message and it prompts one of them to be a pledger, the person could be a life saver,” he said.

According to the National Transplant Resource Centre, there are 391,474 organ pledgers in the country, which is just 1.23% of Malaysia’s 31.7 million population.

Lee travels quite extensively to share his experience about how kidney transplant has given him a new lease of life.

Although most religions encourage organ donation, Lee said getting more people to become organ pledgers remains an uphill task.

But he is undaunted and looks forward to creating greater public awareness on the good of organ donation.